Environment Forum
Global environmental challenges
Gaze into clean technology’s crystal ball for 2010
Clean technology investors who have suffered through 2009 can find cheer in a new report by the Cleantech Group that gives its top ten predictions for 2010.
The number one prediction: Private capital growth will recover, the research group said.
The group believes that the amount of money from global venture capital and private equity in clean technology in 2010 will surpass that in 2009 “by a healthy margin” and could be a record year. The group also is watching for major investments like Khosla Ventures’ raising $1 billion for renewable energy and clean technology funds, more capital in Asia and innovative fund strategies.
Here are the group’s other predictions for 2010:
2. Clean economies become the new space race. There will be changes in which countries and cities are driving global momentum, but greater protectionism surrounding the industry will be a drawback.
3. Electric cars take the back seat to smart mobility. The trend will influence city designs, shipping ports and governments’ tax incentives and budgets.
4. Resource constraints beyond carbon rise to the fore. As the global economy picks up, there could be price spikes that impact clean technology sectors, pushing companies to use resources more efficiently in order to maintain or boost their profitability.
Solar players see sun rising over India
India has ambitious plans for solar power as the country looks to boost its solar output to 20 gigawatts by 2022 from close to zero, as Reuters reported in this story.
Some companies are already looking to capture some of the demand they see growing in India.
U.S.-based solar cell maker Suniva finished this week a project with Titan Energy Systems Ltd for a large scale project in West Bengal.
BP Solar also sees a lot of promise in the Indian market, the company’s chief executive said in a recent interview with Reuters.
That chimes with comments from solar thermal player BrightSource, which is looking for partners in India as well as China.
With various companies eyeing the glimmer of future demand and new orders, we wanted to know who you think will be the winners from India’s solar program.
(Photo: A labourer cleans solar cells placed on a window of a newly constructed solar housing complex in Kolkata. Photo Credit: Parth Sanyal / Reuters)
I hope Singapore government can learn from India in utilizing solar energy.The sun shines practically every day in Singapore.
Nuclear is very clean???!!Are you shore man?Right now there’s no storehouses for nuclear waste products!Obama closed the last big project, where we will keep the garbage? In deep layers of the earth,just like scientist decided to keep CO2???Government don’t think abut the future.